Posted
by
Hemos
on Monday January 12, 2004 @10:18AM
from the looking-into-the-future dept.

eegad writes "A UCLA seismologist named Vladimir Keilis-Borok claims earthquakes can be predicted months in advance. In the article at the University of California Newswire, he claims that the "team including experts of pattern recognition, geodynamics, seismology, chaos theory, statistical physics and public safety ... has developed algorithms to detect precursory earthquake patterns." It also says "the team's current predictions have not missed any earthquake, and have had its two most recent ones come to pass." They predict "an earthquake of at least magnitude 6.4 by Sept. 5, 2004, in a region that includes the southeastern portion of the Mojave Desert, and an area south of it." We'll see if they're right."

Yeah, read that article. Some witnesses said he almost made it to safety. Except that something appeared to be wrong with his knee just before the earthquake started, so he couldn't run fast enough. Got crushed by falling objects warning sign.

While this is a great advance, the real deal will be when we get to the point we can predict precisely enough to WARN the people living in these areas.

As in, hey two weeks from friday, leave the area for a day or two.

Dear Greater Los Angeles Metro Area,

It has come to our attention that there is a high risk of an earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater strking the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area in the next 24-48 hours. While we understand you may be concerned about the prospect of this earthquake, rest assured that the vast majority of earthquakes that strike the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area region are no greater than magnitude 5, and we do not expect this magnitude 8 earthquake to cause any unusual disruption to your daily schedule. In general, we only advise evacuation in the event of a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake. This magnitude 8 earthquake is certainly no cause for alarm.

Actually, I'd prefer to get this info on my cell phone, and I don't need much advance time. If it could turn on the vibrator while the earthquake was going on, that would be good. That way, I'll never miss another one due to riding in the back of a bus.